Turbocharged and supercharged engines may be configured to compress ambient air entering the engine to increase power. Because compressing the air may cause an increase in temperature of the air, a charge air cooler may be utilized to cool the heated air, increasing its density and further increasing the potential power of the engine. If the humidity of the ambient air is high, condensation may form on any internal surface of the charge air cooler that is colder than the dew point of the compressed air. During operating conditions such as high vehicle acceleration, for example, these water droplets may be blown out of the charge air cooler and into the combustion chambers of the engine. This may result in engine misfire, loss of torque and engine speed, and incompletely burned fuel, for example.
A previous solution involved placing condensation traps in fluid communication with ducts downstream of the charge air cooler. However, such traps may only be able to redirect limited quantities of condensate, and add additional components and complexity to the turbocharger system.